Method for recovering oil and tailings from mineral, rock, or shale

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a method for recovering oil and tailing from a raw material such as shale, sand, and a rock, each of which contains oil. The raw material is heated in a fluidized bed, and a heat from the fluidized bed is utilized for heating an additional raw material in at least three retorts to produce oil and tailings.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to a process for recovering oil and tailings from mineral, rock or shale. In particular, this invention uses a fluidized bed and at least three retorts for the process.

BACKGROUND ART

Indonesia has a potential for its natural resource and especially the mines such as coal, asphalt sand, and oil shale. These materials are processed to manufacture various products, and many industries need these materials for various purposes.

With the advancement of technology, a lot of industries have been engaged in processing asphalt, rocks, and sand containing oil for a wide range of products. However, there has been a problem found in treatment processes of those raw materials, particularly in processing sand, rock or shale that contains oil. For example, a dry distillation or a retort, which utilizes a heat, has a problem with less efficiency when processing the raw material. A better solution for recovering oil from sand, rocks and shale has always been desired.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One embodiment of the present invention uses a fluidized bed and at least three retorts to achieve a maximal and efficient outcome. In this embodiment of the present invention, at least three retorts are used for recovering oil and tailings from a raw material such as a mineral, rock, or shale.

One embodiment of this invention relates to a method for recovering oil and tailings from raw material such as rocks, shale, and sand that contain oil, including:

-   -   heating a raw material in a fluidized bed at a temperature of         800-950° C. to produce a flue gas and an ash from the raw         material;     -   heating a first retort and a second retort with the flue gas         from the fluidized bed;     -   feeding an additional raw material into the first retort;     -   heating the additional raw material in the first retort with a         first combustor;     -   transferring the additional raw material from the first retort         to the second retort through a connecter between the first         retort and the second retort;     -   heating the additional raw material in the second retort with a         second combustor;     -   collecting an oil and a non-condensed gas from the additional         raw material in the first retort and the second retort in an oil         condenser;     -   transferring a residue derived from the additional raw material         in the second retort from the second retort to a third retort         through a connecter between the second retort and the third         retort;     -   heating the third retort with the ash from the fluidized bed;     -   feeding a further additional raw material into the third retort;     -   collecting an oil and a non-condensed gas from the further         additional raw material in the third retort in the oil         condenser;     -   transferring a heat of a residue derived from the further         additional raw material in the third retort to the fluidized bed         via a heat exchanger; and     -   collecting tailings from the residue in the third retort.

The flue gas from the fluidized bed is used for heating the additional raw materials in the first retort and the second retort, and the ash from the fluidized bed and the residue from the second retort are used for heating the further additional raw material in the third retort.

In one embodiment, a heat at the fluidized bed is transferred to the first retort and the second retort; the heated ash is transferred from the fluidized bed to the third retort; and a heat steam from the third retort is recycled into the fluidized bed continuously.

In one embodiment, a heat at the fluidized bed is transferred to the first retort and the second retort, and an additional heat is obtained from the first combustor and the second combustor.

In one embodiment, the raw materials are heated in the first, second, and third retorts to transfer the oil into the oil condenser, and an exhaust gas is expelled from the retorts through a chimney having a cyclone filter.

In one embodiment, the raw materials are selected from the group consisting of a shale, sand, and rocks, each of which contains oil.

In one embodiment, the raw materials are oil sand or oil shale with a particle size of 2 mm to 50 mm.

One embodiment of this invention relates to a process for recovering oil and tailings from a raw material such as rocks, sands or shale that contain oil. The process includes transferring a heated gas from a fluidized bed into a first retort and a second retort. The fluidized bed can be heated by coal and jets of air at the lower part until the temperature inside the fluidized bed reaches the combustion temperature of the raw material. The raw material is inserted into the fluidized bed and (is blown by air, so that there will be fluidization and raw oil sand) is in touch with air, and then combustion occurs. The hot gas as a result of the combustion in the fluidized bed will be channeled through pipes such as heat resistant rectangular pipes to the first and second retorts.

In one embodiment, the raw material is heated in the first and second retorts. A combustor can be utilized for efficiently heating the raw material in at least one of the retorts. The maximum heat in the retort can last for 1 hour. The first and second retorts are connected to each other with, for example, a pipe and preferably a heat resistant pipe.

Also, a chimney can be included in the process. The chimney can include a filter or cyclone to separate environmentally friendly air from exhaust gas of the retorts. From the first and second retorts, the hot gas can be channeled back to the cyclone to clean the gas from dust particles that are still carried before the gas is disposed of to the environment, meanwhile the dust as a result of the cyclone separation (lower part) is disposed of. The exhaust gas may include vapor.

The oil is produced as the retort process product. The resulting condensed gas can also be used for a power plant with a gas generator. The oil may still contain water which can be separated by a separator utilizing a deposition or other separation processes. The first and second retorts produce sediments in the form of residue that is also called tailings which have high heat. The residue is passed into a third retort through a connector such as a pipe between the second retort and the third retort. The pipe can be a heat resistant rectangular pipe. An additional raw material and hot ashes generated from the fluidized bed are also inserted into the third retort. The third retort supplies oil to the oil condenser. Tailings from the third retort have heat which can be utilized for a heating boiler and/or flowed back to the fluidized bed, while the tailings are transferred into a reservoir or container. The first and second retorts produce oil, and the third retort produces oil and tailings. The tailings can be used as an alternative material for construction.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic illustration to describe one embodiment of the oil and tailing recovery process using a fluidized bed and three retorts.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of the oil and tailing recovery process using a fluidized bed 101 and three retorts 201, 202, and 203. The fluidized bed 101 can be elongated vertically or horizontally. Raw oil sand or oil shale 102 is introduced in the fluidized bed 101. The fluidized bed 101 heats the raw oil sand or oil shale 102 at 800-950° C. to produce flue gas 103 and a hot ash 104. Air 105 is supplied to the fluidized bed 101. The fluidized bed 101 includes a heat source such as a fire gun or burner. The raw oil sand or oil shale 102 can be entered into the fluidized bed 101 after the heat is generated in the fluidized bed 101.

The flue gas 103 is subsequently transferred from the fluidized bed 101 to the retorts 201 and 202. The retort 201 includes raw oil sand or oil shale 207 a. The retorts 201 and 202 can be a drum dryer or rotary mixer with a single-and double screw or other form that can heat up a raw material. In the retorts 201 and 202, the raw oil sand or oil shale 207 a is heated to transfer oil 209 and 210 to an oil condenser 301 to collect oil 302. The flue gas 103 from the fluidized bed 101 is utilized for heating the raw oil sand or oil shale 207 a. Other gases 217 and 218 can also be entered through combustors 204 and 205 to increase heating temperature in addition to the flue gas 103 from the fluidized bed 101 with a certain ratio such as 1:2 and 1:3. The oil 302 is a product from the raw material 207 a. When collecting the oil 302 in the oil condenser 301, a non-condensable gas 303 is obtained as a side product.

The raw oil sand or oil shale 207 a and/or hot residues after heating the raw oil sand or oil shale 207 a are transferred from the retort 201 to the retort 202, and then from the retort 202 to the retort 203. The retorts 201, 202, and 203 are vertically connected to each other with pipes. The material 207 a and/or the residues are pushed mechanically up to the end of each retort, and they drop through the pipes by gravity. The pipes can be heat resistant rectangular pipes. By including raw oil sand or oil shale 207 b in the retort 203, the retort 203 can produce oil 211. Since the residues of the retorts 201 and 202 have high temperature and the hot ash 104 with a temperature of 600-700° C. is transferred from the fluidized bed 101 to the retort 203, the raw oil sand or oil shale 207 b is heated in the retort 203. The ash 104 (tailing or combustion residual ash) that is still hot as a result of the combustion in the fluidized bed 101 can be directly mixed with the raw oil sand or oil shale 207 b in the retort 203. After reaching a sufficient temperature in the retort 203, the oil 211 is transferred to the oil condenser 301 to collect the oil 302 and the non-condensable gas 303. Residues from the retort 203 are flowed through a heat exchanger 206 to transfer heat 219 and 220 to a boiler 401 and/or the fluidized bed 101. The residues are put in a container 216 in the form of coke or tailings 215. The container 216 can contain water that functions as an anti leak seal.

The retorts 201, 202, and 203 can include a mechanical system to push the raw oil sand or oil shale 207 a and 207 b as well as tailings 215 to the pipes. While the oil sand or oil shale 207 a moves from the retort 201 to the retort 203 with the held of the mechanical system, the oil in the raw oil sand or oil shale 207 a evaporates as a result of the heat in the retorts 201 and 202 derived from the hot flue gas 103 from the fluidized bed 101. In addition, when the raw oil sand or oil shale 207 a drops by gravity in the pipe between the retort 201 and the retort 202 and the pipe between retort 202 and the retort 203, the raw oil sand or oil shale 207 a is blown by direct contact with gas and air from the combustors 217 and 218 so that the oil evaporation can be optimally achieved.

The retorts 201 and 202 produce the oil 209 and 210, and the retort 203 produces the oil 211 and the tailings 215. The oil 209, 210, and 211 may exit from the retort 201, the retort 202, and the retort 203 as vapor, and will be channeled to the condenser 301 through at least one vapor pipe. The condenser 301 can function as a cooler to change the oil vapor to liquid oil. The tailings 215 from the retort 203 can be used as an alternative material for construction.

A chimney 208 is used for expelling an exhaust gas 212. The exhaust gas 212 is filtered by a cyclone in the chimney 208 so that a released gas 213 is environmentally friendly. An ash 214 is separated from the exhaust gas 212. In one embodiment, the cyclone is connected with the fluidized bed 101 that produces hot flue gas 103, the hot flue gas 103 is channeled to heat the retort 201 and the retort 202, and then channeled back to the cyclone to clean the gas from dust before being disposed of to the environment.

The fluidized bed 101 generates the flue gas 103 with a high temperature and the hot ash 104. The fluidized bed 101 utilizes the raw oil sand or oil shale 102 to produce heat. The retorts 201, 202, and 203 produce oil 209, 210, and 211 by utilizing the heat from the fluidized bed 101. In the retort 203, the raw oil sand or oil shale 207 b can be mixed with the residues from the retorts 201 and 202 and/or a gas from outside at a temperature of 60° C.

The raw oil sand or oil shale 102, 207 a, and 207 b are inserted into the fluidized bed 101, the retort 201, and retort 203, respectively. The process can efficiently utilize the heat by obtaining the heat from the heat flux using a heat exchanger 206. The raw oil sand or oil shale 102, 207 a, and 207 b used in the process preferably have a diameter of 2 mm up to 50 mm. However, the oil sand or oil shale can have any size which can be introduced in the fluidized bed 101 and the retorts 201, 202, 203. The process can utilize several retorts, but three retorts are preferably utilized in combination with one fluidized bed.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described herein, the above description is merely illustrative. Further modification of the invention herein disclosed will occur to those skilled in the respective arts and all such modifications are deemed to be within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for recovering an oil and tailings from a raw material, comprising: heating a raw material in a fluidized bed at a temperature of 800-950° C. to produce a flue gas and an ash from the raw material; heating a first retort and a second retort with the flue gas from the fluidized bed; feeding an additional raw material into the first retort; heating the additional raw material in the first retort with a first combustor; transferring the additional raw material from the first retort to the second retort through a connecter between the first retort and the second retort; heating the additional raw material in the second retort with a second combustor; collecting an oil and a non-condensed gas from the additional raw material in the first retort and the second retort in an oil condenser; transferring a residue derived from the additional raw material in the second retort from the second retort to a third retort through a connecter between the second retort and the third retort; heating the third retort with the ash from the fluidized bed; feeding a further additional raw material into the third retort; collecting an oil and a non-condensed gas from the further additional raw material in the third retort in the oil condenser; transferring a heat of a residue derived from the further additional raw material in the third retort to the fluidized bed via a heat exchanger; and collecting tailings from the residue in the third retort; wherein the flue gas from the fluidized bed is used for heating the additional raw materials in the first retort and the second retort, and the ash from the fluidized bed and the residue from the second retort are used for heating the further additional raw material in the third retort.
 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein a heat of the flue gas is transferred from the fluidized bed to the first retort and the second retort; a heat of the ash is transferred from the fluidized bed to the third retort; and a heat from the third retort is recycled in the fluidized bed continuously.
 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein a heat of the flue gas is transferred from the fluidized bed to the first retort and the second retort, and an additional heat is obtained from the first combustor and the second combustor.
 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the raw materials are heated in the first, second, and third retorts to collect the oil in the oil condenser, and an exhaust gas is expelled from the retorts through a chimney having a cyclone filter.
 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the raw materials are selected from sand, rock, or shale, each of which contains oil.
 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the raw materials are oil sand or oil shale with a particle size of 2 mm to 50 mm. 